SACRAMENTO, Calif. - U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. sentenced a Sacramento man today for his participation in a scheme that involved stealing and deconstructing U.S. Postal Service locks to reverse engineer keys in order to steal U.S. Mail, steal identities and defraud financial institutions, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
Billee Vang, 27, was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison and ordered to pay $5,733 in restitution. On Nov. 17, 2017, Vang and his co-defendant, Dang Vue, 28, of Sacramento pleaded guilty to bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, theft of stolen U.S. mail, stealing and reproducing postal service locks and keys, and unlawful possession of at least five identification documents for fraudulent purposes.
According to court documents, between Jan. 13, 2017, and May 12, 2017, Vang and Vue stole mail throughout Sacramento and Placer Counties, including neighborhoods in Roseville, Elk Grove, and Sacramento. As part of their criminal scheme, the defendants stole Postal Service locks and used them to reverse engineer keys to open neighborhood mailbox units and steal mail from them.
Vang and Vue used the stolen mail, including checks and identification documents, to take over victim bank and credit accounts. Additionally, they used and attempted to use credit and debit cards, credit card convenience checks, and personal checks that had been stolen from postal customers to conduct unauthorized transactions at the expense of federally insured financial institutions.
On May 12, 2017, when arrested in Elk Grove, the defendants were found to possess numerous reverse engineered counterfeit keys, metal filing tools, pry bars and other burglary tools, and stolen U.S. mail from neighborhood mailbox units. On April 27, 2018, Vue was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison and ordered to pay $5,733 in restitution.
This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with assistance from Elk Grove Police Department, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, and Roseville Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Rodriguez prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
